It CAN be done. It just requires client-side editing since, according to that thread, it's because of Apple's guidelines that transparency cannot be used, which I know you're going to say is a hassle and etc. We could offer a modified APK if we get it working right in this thread, and have the normal app on the market still until it gets fixed, for those of us who would like a better looking launcher icon. It's not like the TF app gets updated all that often (I've seen it update maybe twice the entire time I've had it). Once a fixed version from vB comes out and we can use transparency that way, then we can just get rid of the link in the first post and voila...things are back to their rightful order.
This is exactly what I was going to do, and he said he had gotten it to work; so it's not an issue of the OS. It's just a problem with vB and their Mobile Suite (they say they're updating it soon, but we all know how well vB is at "soon"). It's a
design principle put in by Android as well. This also leads back to the matter text on the launcher icon. Icons should be simple and representative of something.
If I do a search on Android market for "Tech Forums" it comes up with the TF logo (with the slogan words totally unreadable), the name "Tech Forums" and the website (techist.com) right under the name. If you click on the app it brings up an even smaller icon (something must be wrong with this, because it should be a large icon as well).
IMO, that's pretty ample information to judge what app you're getting, without being able to read the slogan that not many of those users will probably recognize anyway. Plus when you scroll down you can read the description of the app (which IMO is a bit lengthy too, but whatever).
I'm not trying to be a pain; I'm just trying to give my reasoning behind this. I've customized the way my Android looks, and on my phone (or for other superusers), it's just a bit ugly. The normal user doesn't have to worry about this at all, or if they don't care. Plus, it's not like the staff would have to do anything either (since I know you're busy); I could do it all (minus the editing the first post to include the link).